A Dad Story

By Sally Fitts.

She woke with a feeling of dread. A subtle vibrating tension that solidified into anxiety. Scanning her body, all seemed fine. Reaching over, she fumbled for her phone, squinting to check for messages. None. She lay back with the phone in her hand, cat picture overlaid by the date. 1st December. Fuck, there it is.

December. The month of joyous festivities, prelude to holidays, that delicious sense of relief with no time left to worry about what you did or didn’t achieve. But also, the witching time of year when past experience crowded in on her – someone was bound to get sick, have an accident or worse. Her mind spiralled down the rabbit hole, cataloguing the disasters of years past …

Two years ago, broken leg the week before Christmas, septicaemia, induced coma – December 25 didn’t exist that year;
Three years ago, three kids with measles;
Last year, house fire started from an out-of-control roast pork;

And, ten years ago, Dad’s death (Christmas Day!)
Such a happy sad day, the family together for a cold-country lunch on a sweltering afternoon, ruddy faces under crumpled cracker hats, alcohol and food induced post-lunch comas, ragged impromptu backyard cricket match. She remembered pulling Dad up from the couch, his look defeated, tired of the pain, but still up for a warm hug. No more whistling a happy tune though; that delightful soundtrack of her growing up.

And then, in the evening of the day, gone. Massive heart attack, instantly elsewhere. Her sister’s anguished wail, Mum’s bewilderment.

Shaking herself back to the present, her natural Pollyanna state got her out of bed. Maybe not this year. Realising her complete lack of control over the universe, she began a mental list of gifts to be got, puddings to be made, and fun to be had.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sally is a visual artist with a secret passion for words. One of these days she is going to combine the two, but that’s a development in process.

She is a newbie writer-in-public, most of her output to date has been reworked, rethought, recycled, and returned to the drawing board!

Victorian Writer published her piece ‘Feather Basket’ in the recent edition ‘Unbecoming’.

You can see her artwork and some writing at www.sallyfitts.com